Medicinal plants

National Hemp Day is February 4. Hemp has had a great historical importance for rope and canvas and was a required agricultural crop in the fledgling U.S. in the 1600s. UC Davis is now pursuing the many scientific, agricultural, and medicinal uses of hemp and cannabis.

Professors Cameron Carter, School of Medicine, and Li Tian, Department of Plant Sciences, are co-directors of the Cannabis and Hemp Research Center at UC Davis. The center will guide and support cannabis- and hemp-related research across UC Davis.

To fill a critical need in the fast-growing hemp industry, the UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center completed a two-day course on Hemp Breeding and Seed Production, with 165 professionals attending from the U.S., Argentina, Canada, Israel, Netherlands and New Zealand.

For the first time, plant scientists at UC Davis and UC ANR harvested an industrial hemp crop at UC locations. Working on the project are Professor Charlie Brummer, and Cooperative Extension Specialists Bob Hutmacher and Dan Putnam – all three are faculty in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis.